ESSAY WRITING
WHAT IMPACT HAS MASS-MEDIA AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAD UPON ADVERTISING?
The Impact of Mass-media and Digital Technology
Over the last 50 years marketing has changed a lot in many ways such as how it looks to the information on it. I’ve chose soft drinks because I feel like it has changed the most with many things such as how the advert looks to how the bottles. Even how the adverts look such as the colours, the text and what kind of images are on it. Throughout of this essay I will explore advertising from Coca-Cola and 7UP and how their advertisements have changed with technology. I will explore their old adverts compared to their newer ones and how things such as technology has changed how people view adverts now.
The first advert I am going to look at is an old 7UP advert (as seen above). This is advertisement was published around the 1970s-1980s. In the advert we can see these is lots of text, this is because in the time when this was published people would have more time to read advertisements hence why there is lots of writing. This is because people would have time to stop and read to learn more about the company or the product. Another thing is the colour, there isn’t any colour other than the green so people see the colour and then remember the company with a colour. The imagery is very eye catching so that people see it and they to go read the advert and pay attention to it. After catching their eye they would go over to read it and then remember the advertisement. The advert itself has the one line saying ‘Nothing does it like Seven-Up!’, this one line gets caught in your head like a slogan so that you read it and remember it. Then next time you’re looking for a soft drink you would go for the 7up as it would be stuck in your head. The word ‘does it’ is in green which then shows that it is for 7up.
Another company which has had a big impact from mass media is Coca-Cola. The first advertisement (as seen above) would have been published around the 1890s-1900s. In the first advert you can see three people, two who seem to be doing painting, showing them doing work and a third holding a tray with drinks on them. The drinks on the tray are Coca-Cola bottles. This is so that when people see the advertisement, they know it is for Coca-Cola and they know what the product looks like. They people on the front are portrayed as happy and enjoying to see there is Coca-Cola for them to drink. This then makes viewers of the advertisement think that having Coca-Cola will make them happy and enjoy their time while drinking it, then they will want to drink it. Similarly, to the 7up advertisement there is one main image showing off a person then the product, with the product being in colour and the logo/name in colour. Both of these colours are bright colours so your eyes get attracted to that one word or logo. People then see this and instantly know who the add is for and what it is. With the newer advertisement (as seen below) which would have been published around 2005s-2015s. There is the solid red background showing the companies colours so people know who they are when looking at them. Just like the newer 7up advertisement. There aren’t any images of people or anything to catch your eye like in other advertisements I have looked at. Instead, this one has photos of four different bottles of Coca-Cola, this then still shows of the products so people will know it is there’s if they want to get a drink. It still has the one line so people remember that and then remember the company for it.
Another example of how technology has changed advertisements for Coca-Cola is their video advertisements. Due to the change in technology, Coca-Cola have managed to produced more and more video advertisements each year enhancing their camera work, sounds and effects. As shown in the photo below which has been taken from one of their Christmas advertisements. One of the main examples for this is when Coca-Cola started seeing a drop in their sales during winter times as people didn’t want a cold drink after spending days outside in the cold. To help with this problem they decided to make Christmas adverts to gain viewers attention even throughout the cold winters. With red already being a colour related Christmas already and with Santa being dressed in red, it made Coca-Cola’s job more easier. This shows how technology has changed advertising for companies as it means more people, in modern day, are looking at their phones more or watching television more meaning they will be more likely to see the advertisement. Another thing that helps companies such as Coca-Cola is using memorable songs or tunes that will get stuck in peoples heads so they will then be thinking about it and next time they feel thirsty they will chose Coca-Cola.
In conclusion, technology has changed advertisements by making company’s cut down on text and having images or colour to catch the attention of customers. This is because people have less time to stop and read advertisements and now companies have to use something to catch their eye so they stay and look at it. Social media has now become one of the main ways people view advertisements so people will just scroll past advertisements if they don’t grab their attention or interest them.
